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pregnancy

Denmark has been on my list of places to visit, because it’s known as one of the happiest places on earth. 😀

Who wouldn’t want to experience that?

In my research of Denmark, I came across a book that mentioned how Danish leave their babies bundled up, in strollers, outside, in the winter, UNATTENDED, while the parents go into a restaurant or cafe to eat.

It was hard to believe. Who does that?!

The parents of Denmark.

It’s true, and I saw it first hand.

(They also don’t lock their bikes either.)

Can we take a moment to think about what this says about the Danish culture?

How beautiful is it that people feel their babies are safe and they can leave them unattended? And, it’s not like the parents are sitting right inside with a window for viewing the babies. There are no cameras outside recording footage that is being featured on a Jumbotron in the restaurant.

No, these parents are relaxing.

Why do parents in Denmark leave their babies unattended outside?

I believe the happiness plays a key part. People are happy. People aren’t kidnapping babies.

Now that that’s established…

Another main reason is they believe the cold weather is good for babies. (I agree in that cold can be anti-inflammatory). They’re bundled up, yes, and the cold surrounding is a health boost. (I’m here in the cold weather and can’t say what they do in the warmer months but I expect they still do it, because what parents don’t enjoy some alone time during meals?)

If I ever have another baby, I’m going to live the first year of its life here in Denmark. 🇩🇰

But, as I wrote in a post recently that talked about all about breastfeeding, I’m sharing some other posts from my old Green Mommy Blog. This is another one… taking a tour of a hospital even though I originally had planned a home birth for my daughter.

Well. As some of you know, I did end up in the hospital for the delivery of Kamea, but it wasn’t the local one I toured.

I was emailed the following questions, and thought I’d share my response for everyone…

Hi Kristen!

I just found your blog after googling and I have a question I was hoping you could answer. I just found out I’m 5 weeks pregnant and my diet is mostly raw, no dairy, no meat, and I always start my day with 2-3 organic raw (kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, celery, cucumber, and apple) green juices I buy from an organic juice press shop that uses the Norwalk press. I would like to know if it is safe to continue to drink my beloved juices daily and my Sunwarrior Ormus Supergreens? Everyone says something differant and I’m confused. I would like to keep my mostly raw healthy lifestyle because it is what works best for me. I also was wondering which were the best supplement suggestions you can offer, … chorella, spirulina etc. Are these safe during pregnancy? Please help! All the best, G

Great question! For starters, you know I’m not a doctor or midwife. I’m a chef who reads a lot – lol – and has a passion for nutrition and health. That being written, here is how I handled the situation when I was pregnant.

There is indeed a risk of contamination when consuming raw foods while pregnant (well, anytime really, but for pregnancy it has its own dangerous implications). However, I wasn’t about to give up my raw foods. Therefore, while I was pregnant, I did not consume any fresh juices unless I made them myself (except on perhaps three or four different occasions while traveling). It wasn’t worth the risk in my opinion. In fact, even making them myself was not risk-free, but I believe it was greatly reduced because I thoroughly washed and scrubbed my ORGANIC produce. To wash them, I often used food grade hydrogen peroxide (this is the not the stuff you buy in the drugstore). The same rules applied for salads and other fresh foods that I didn’t prepare. I had them on occasion at a restaurant, but I knew the possible risk of doing it, so I didn’t do it often. And, for the times I did do it, they were usually vegan or raw places that didn’t serve meat products which is helpful (exception – the veg burritos with fresh salsa and guacamole from Chipotle – lol – I had those a few times).

Overall, my pregnancy was mostly high raw with some times that were all raw and some times that were moderately raw. I stayed away from green powders because they (at the time) had an ingredient or two that just didn’t seem good to me in a pregnant state after researching all the ingredients. That being said, I have read about a number of women drinking green powders while pregnant. If I were to become pregnant again, I would probably consume Greener Grasses because that is a powder that seems both nourishing and gentle (I am drinking this now while breastfeeding and it’s wonderful). Again though, this is just how I would do it. There are many others who might differ in their successful and healthy pregnant experiences.

As for supplements, I wrote about them in a previous blog post here. I can’t claim their safety because as you’ll notice they probably have labels warning against taking while pregnant or lactating. However, I was excited to take chlorella because of its recognized ability to take toxins out of breastmilk according to one study (details here). I also took wheat grass tablets, probiotics, prenatal, and others. My most important supplement suggestion would be to take Vitamin D. I encourage you to get your levels tested. I would read The Vitamin D Solution for recommendations on how much to take while pregnant. The amount in your prenatal are not enough in many professionals’ opinions. (I highly recommend that book to everyone reading this post.)

I received the following on one of my posts about pregnancy but thought I’d also include the information here.

Kristen!

I’m newly preggo for the second time (first time being 4 years ago). My diet and knowledge have changed a lot since. I’ve been researching your blog and have a couple of questions. First what prenatal vit did you end up liking the best? Why did you stop taking vitamineral green and fruits powders while you were pregnant? And, just out of curiosity, why do you use both hemp powder AND seeds in your smoothies and not flax? Love your blog, you rock.

Thanks, Jamie

Here is my response:

Hi Jaime,Congrats on your pregnancy.

You ask great questions….

1) I was partial to Vitamin Code’s prenatal in spite of the controversial vitamin D3 being/not being vegan,especially for people who couldn’t get enough vitamin D from sun exposure due to where they live. However, I have since learned that vitamin D2 (vegan) is just as effective as vitamin D3, so supplementing with extra vitamin D2 and taking a truly vegan prenatal is an option. The high amount of vitamin D in Vitamin Code is great – they are way ahead of the curve with respect to this. I don’t know of any other prenatals doing that and it’s so important while pregnant. I also like that Vitamin Code uses capsules instead of tablets…. usually means less processing. However, New Chapter is still great. They’ve been around a while and have many happy customers. :)

2) I stopped Vitamineral Green and Fruits of Earth while pregnant because of ingredients that could be questionable during pregnancy. I know of women who took VG during pregnancy, but I opted not to. You could consider their other product Greener Grasses though – good stuff! I’m taking it now while breastfeeding. (I think they might’ve changed their VG formula since then because I don’t see one of the questionable ingredients in there. There is parsley juice in it though, and parsley is known for affecting breastmilk, so it still might be better to go with Greener Grasses. If you decide to go with VG, you might want to double check with your midwife or physician.)

3) Hemp has a more ideal ratio of omegas than flax (read more about this here). I also like the higher protein in it which is why sometimes I used both hemp powder and hemp seeds.

(Happy mama at almost 6 months) This week we had our monthly visit with our amazing midwife, Shell (see why we are choosing a midwife / homebirth here). Everything is going wonderfully. My weight gain is healthy (weighed in around 145 today), my urine analysis is pristine, my blood pressure is low and healthy, and overall, I feel great. Shell mentioned that I don’t seem to have some of the issues many pregnant women seem to experience (swollen extremities for example). I attribute it to my healthy lifestyle.

We’ve declined the use of any more ultrasounds since the last one we had around 13.5 weeks, and we’re not going to use doppler either (I just don’t completely trust either of those, and unless it’s warranted for something that could be actionable, then I see no reason to use them). We’re going old school and using a fetascope which can be tricky to use in hearing the heartbeat unless you have a practiced person doing it. I bought one on Amazon to use myself, but I’ve yet to find the heartbeat in my attempts. Shell heard our baby’s heartbeat today and it is normal. :)

She also gave me some magic pregnancy tea. I call it magic because anything this woman makes or does is magical for my baby. She’s just so awesome. My instructions are to drink a quart a day. Yum! I can’t wait!

After our appointment, we went to one of my favorite places for lunch, Chakra 4 Herbs. They are organic and have many raw and vegan dishes. I always get a bowl of their (cooked) soup because it’s the best soup in the whole world. Truly. And, then I usually get one of their giant organic wraps that is stuffed with greens, veggies, olives, and raw vegan cheese. On our way out I noticed they had a “breastfeeding friendly” sticker on the door so I had to take a picture of it. They rock!

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About Kristen Suzanne

I’m an author traveling the world on a multi-year odyssey to experience other cultures, and stay fit while I stuff my face with their food. (For now, meat anyway). I write about food, fitness, and our experiences as a digital nomad family.